In emerging markets such as those across sub-Saharan Africa, 80% of the food is grown on small-scale farms. Many of these farms are between 1 to 5 acres in size, are rain fed and have the lowest productivity among developing economies. Due to small size and significant involvement on manual labor, innovative approaches are required to boost agricultural productivity of farming in sub-Saharan Africa. There is ample evidence to suggest that the low productivity in rain-fed agriculture is due more to suboptimal performance related to management aspects rather than to low physical potential of agricultural lands.
Farming on Small Scale Typically Involves Three Steps:
(1) Land and crop selection. The typical small-scale farmer has two or more different types of crops on his farm with different water and nutritional requirements. The distribution of soil, water, mineral and pH varies given how the land is divided. S/he must ensure the best crops are selected for that location, and that water is optimally applied.
(2) Growth monitoring and maintenance. After selecting the crop, the farmer needs to ensure optimal growth conditions are maintained. Ensuring reliable water supply is essential. The farmer needs to be alerted if the supply is low or if the water delivery to the root zone of the plant is sub-optimal. The farmer also needs to know how inputs, especially, translate to knowing the health status of a certain crop in the farm. In developing countries, simple, low cost and intuitive monitoring approaches are needed to deliver these insights. Remote sensing approaches will often not work for the small-scale farm given size relative to what can be inferred from remote imagery.
(3) Harvesting. When the crops are ready for harvest the farmer faces weather, pest and market access constraints. S/he would benefit by receiving early warning on these potential pitfalls.